Sustainable Changes to Reduce E-Waste

What is e-waste?

E-waste is an object that houses a battery or has a plug that has been discarded. This electronic waste is toxic or hazardous to the environment if left to decay and break down. It’s expected that by 2030, 74 million tonnes of e-waste will have been produced globally¹- that’s equivalent to the weight of 7326 Eiffel Towers.

The estimated remaining e-waste in the world weighs 374 Mt²– when converted to iPhone 13s and laid out end-to-end, it would wrap around the earth more than 7 times.

A circular economy reduces e-waste

While not a silver bullet, adopting a circular economy for electronics is a step in the right direction. To prevent damaging the environment, unregulated e-waste practices, or unnecessary storage, lifecycle extension is the answer. When the useability of a device degrades or it becomes unwanted, its life can be extended via refurbishment or repair to send it back into circulation rather than into e-waste.

Here are some key areas where Ingram Micro Lifecycle focuses on extending the lifecycle of our customers’ devices; some you may already be aware of but some may surprise you.

You know we repair and refurbish devices, but did you also know…

Our depot programme is an efficient process designed to manage your device portfolio. A replacement is sent out in advance and exchanged with the asset which is in need of some TLC. Our high-tech repair and refurbishment capabilities ensure we maximise the repair yield on technology rather than resigning it to e-waste. After repair and refurbishment, devices are put back into stock or into storage in our warehouse, until needed. You have complete visibility of your devices by make, model and serial number, and can call them off whenever needed to start the next chapter in their extended life.

You know we offer trade-in, but did you also know…

We have a GREAT recommerce team. OEMs, Operators and MVNOs are seeing an increase in refurbished devices sold. In the UK, 45% of consumers are now more likely to use refurbished technology – 35% have already done so³. Giffgaff reported earlier in the year that refurbished phones make up a third of those in circulation and over 60% of all their phones sold in 2021 were secondhand⁴. This provides a great opportunity for both commercial and consumer users to trade in their own devices with the added benefit of knowing that their traded-in devices will be refurbished and put back into the market rather than contributing to e-waste. Each traded-in device is subjected to our rigorous cosmetic and functional assessment to determine the level of refurbishment needed to increase the re-sale value. We are providing increased recovery of damaged devices, making them ready for reuse, extending the lifecycle and reducing potential e-waste. Using our specialised industrial-scale polishing process, we are able to uplift damaged but repairable B&C grades to Grade A devices.